Within the DRCongo, the East zone is the area mostly affected by cholera. Most of the cases are concentrated in lakeshore areas.
It is estimated that the risk of cholera outbreak is increased by over seven times living in lakeshore areas of eastern DRC.
Credit: Charline Burton/OCHA DRC

USG visits the "People's beach" in Goma, capital city of North Kivu province in the DRC. This place is one of the only urban access points to the Kivu Lake, where most of the 172,000 inhabitants go for water collection. Thanks to Unicef and its partenrs water treatment system, no major cholera outbreak have been reported in Goma since 2006. According to humanitarian workers in the DRC, securing fundings for emergency-response projects in the lakeshore areas and promoting long-lasting investments is essential to permanently decrease the number of cholera outbreaks in the DRC.
Credit: Charline Burton/OCHA DRC

Chlorinators provide free chlorine solutions directly into the containers. According to the World Health Organisation, the DRCongo has the highest number of cholera cases from 2002-2009 worldwide, with 180,000 cases reported during that period. Credit: Charline Burton/ OCHA DRC

Every day, this young boy brings water to his neighbourhood using his bycicle. Every 20-liters jerry can costs him 10 congolese francs, which is about 0.01 USD. The management of this emergency water treatment system was transfered to the national water management entreprise (REGIDESO) mid-2007 by the UNICEF and its partners.
Credit: Charline Burton/OCHA DRC

Valerie Amos meeting the authorities of North Kivu province, on 9 March in Goma (capital city of North Kivu. "Humanitarian assistance can save lives and alleviate suffering", said Valerie Amos "but the root causes of this crisis must be addressed; The conflict must end".
In Eastern Congo, armed men attack villages almost every week, often looting, raping, maiming, killing, kidnapping and burning villages before leaving. At this present day, an estimated 1.3 million people, who fled these atrocities, are displaced in North and South Kivu.
Credit: Charline Burton/OCHA DRC

Julien Paluku Kahongya, Governor of the North-Kivu Province, addresses Valerie Amos. His province faced huge humanitarian crises over the last decade. "We feel very comforted by the visit of the United Nations' n°2", said Julien Paluku. " We want to thank humanitarian actors for all the support they've given to this province that suffered so much". He added that according to him, it was time to think about the transition between humanitarian aid and development.
Credit: Charline Burton/OCHA DRC

This woman and mother fled the atrocies committed by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), an Ougandese armed group active in the Orientale Province of the DRC. She now resides in an IDP site in Dungu, a small city where she feels her family is more secure. At her arrival in Dungu, the French NGO Solidarités provided her family with this moquito net, and other non-food items when she arrived in this site.
LRA members are responsible for nearly 300,000 people being currenlty displaced in the DRC. "MONUSCO must step up its operation in the area, and the Government must strenghten its presence", said Valerie Amos on her visit to Orientale Province.
Credit: Charline Burton/OCHA DRC

Valerie Amos greets the Marocco bataillon of the peace keeping operation (Mission of the UN for the Stabilisation of Congo, MONUSCO) at the Dungu base, in the Orientale Province.
"MONUSCO is a deterrent to the LRA", said Valerie Amos while in Dungu
Credit: Charline Burton/OCHA DRC